out the
captain, as three sperm whales were seen spouting from the mast-head.

"All the boats were immediately lowered. Jack was in the captain's
boat. Away they pulled from the ship in chase. Those sperm whales are
sometimes dangerous creatures to hunt. We saw that the captain's boat
was fast, that is to say, he had struck the whale. Away went the boat,
towed at a great rate. Suddenly she stopped--the whale rose. The
captain pulled in to strike another harpoon into her. The monster
reared her powerful tail and struck the boat a blow which split her
clean in two. We had not a boat left to go to our shipmates'
assistance; the other boats were far away in other directions. The wind
was light, but we were able to lay up towards the spot where the
accident had occurred. We could at length see the wreck of the boat and
two men clinging to her. I hoped that one might be Jack and the other
the captain; for they were, I may well say, the only two people I cared
for in the world, or who cared for me. Eagerly I looked out. `It's Jem
Rawlins and Peter Garvin,' I heard some one say. My heart sank within
me. Jem and Peter were got on board. They were, of all the crew, those
I had the least reason to like. They told us that the poor captain had
got the line entangled round his leg, and had been drawn down when the
whale sounded, and that Jack had been killed by a blow from her tail.
It seemed wonderful that they themselves should have escaped,
considering the fury with which the whale attacked the boat. Thus was
the last link broken which, as it were, connected me with my lost
relations, and I might say that I had not a friend in the world. All I
knew about myself was that Jack had saved me from the wreck of a ship
called the `Dove,' which, with my name, `Tom Holman,' he had tattooed on
my arm. He had also put into a tin case the belt I had on and one or
two other little articles, which tin case was in his chest. It was
unanimously agreed on board that I should be his heir, so I succeeded to
the chest, the chief article of value in which was the tin case. I took
it out, and have ever since preserved it carefully, though with little
hope of finding it of use. I had become very fond of reading, and had
read all the books in the captain's cabin. There were not many of them,
and there was not one which had religion in it, and I am very certain
that there was not a Bible on board. I only knew that there was such a